A Revelation: Zutara Week 2010
by IFeltHope44
Summary: Family. Change. Pain. Date. Harmony. Alternate Universe. Storm. Seven days, seven prompts, seven Zutara drabbles. A special peek into the Avatar world for Zutara Week 2010, brought to you by GreenifyME on deviantART.
1. Sisterly Love

**Zutara Week. Day One. Family.**

**I own nothing! Jun, Song, Jin, Li, Gansu, Sela, Mai, Ty Lee, Sokka, Suki, Aang, Toph, Ursa, Iroh, Katara, Zuko, Azula, shirshus, and anything else recognizable belong to Mike/Bryan/Nickelodeon/Viacom!**

**Zutara Week 2010 is, of course, run by the lovely GreenifyME, as well as AnimantX, Irrel, and Trishna87 on deviantART. n_n**

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Sisterly Love

He stood completely immobilized, completely helpless as everyone he even remotely cared about was lined up in front of him in his mother's courtyard with heavy shackles around their wrists. Toward the far left end of the line stood Jun, the bounty hunter, and next to her were Song and Jin with equally frightened faces. Mischievous Li stood sandwiched between his parents Gansu and Sela, who did their best to stand in front of him like a shield. Childhood friends Mai and Ty Lee were standing together. Mai's face betrayed her phlegmatic barrier with the slightest hint of tears and Ty Lee was full out bawling. Sokka, Suki, Aang, and Toph held hands the best they could, digging their heels into the ground for support.

Zuko didn't even have to look to know what order the last three people were in, but the guards in heavy, full armor left him no choice and forced him to see them. Ursa's elegant robes were slashed and hung around her in limp tatters. "Never forget who you are," she whispered before the hilt of a sword was stabbed at her shoulders. Uncle Iroh held his place next to the former Lady of Fire with that look of regret in his wise eyes that caused guilt to surge up Zuko's throat and nearly choke him.

He didn't want to look at the last person. He didn't want to see her eyes or her trembling lips or the chains that held her wrists down. He couldn't-he _wouldn't _look at her, he decided-but once more the metallic scrape of armor against armor forced him to do so. The water bender appeared so weak, so feeble. She was neither of those things.

"Katara," he murmured, and she heard him. She lifted her face and he could see streaks of dark maroon running across her dress and across her mocha skin; whose blood it was, however, he couldn't tell.

"Ka-!" He started to yell her name, but a quick jab to his solar plexus silenced him effectively.

"Well, hello there, Zuzu." Princess Azula sneered in his ear, casually curling her nails and brushing them against the metal chest plate she wore. She said nothing else to him but sauntered to the far left end of the line. "Shirshu poison. Fire. Ice. Swords for Mr. and Mrs. Goody-Goody, knife for the kid." Azula was handing out death sentences, he realized. She continued down the line, never once repeating a punishment. "Leave the last three for me," she ordered, and that evil Azula smirk played her face as she came back to Zuko's side. "Now see what happens when you become an enemy to the Fire Nation."

Her orders were carried out, and she made him watch.

Three people were left huddled together among the pools of blood that coated the young grasses. Zuko was crying, freely letting the tears in their relentless scurry slide down his face and drop on his tunic. "Please…"

"You never learn, Zuzu."

...

"Sugar Queen, wake up! Sugar Queen, come on, come on!" Toph shook her friend's arm urgently.

"Go away, Toph," the girl in question muttered and rolled over.

Toph curled her fist and clenched her teeth in dire aggravation. She stomped the ground roughly, causing the earth to reverberate, and tried to get the water bender up again. "Get up, Katara!"

The use of her real name brought the water bender to lazy attention. "What?"

"Something's really wrong with-" She was cut off by an intense, guttural scream that ripped through the small camp by the cliff side. "Sparky," she finished in a pained whisper. Not only was Katara up and running to Zuko's tent by then, but everyone else was too. In an area so small and quite, the chances of sleeping through the scream were minimal to none.

By the time Katara had reached Zuko's tent, for hers was the farthest away from the prince, Suki was sitting on one side of him with Aang on the other, trying to comfort him. Sokka tried to look important by pacing around in the small confines of the tent. Zuko cursed his sister's name, his voice coming in shattered gasps.

"Katara!" Sokka shouted. "Fix Sparky!"

The said healer girl pushed her brother out of the way with an annoyed roll of her eyes and went to the opposite side of the tent to kneel by Zuko's side, next to Suki. His skin was burning-literally, burning: tiny flames sizzled off of the back of his hands unconsciously.

"Zuko? Hey, it's okay. Zuko!" Katara firmly took his face between her hands, yelping quietly at the dangerously high temperature of his skin. His eyes grew impossibly wide when he saw her.

"Katara?" The whimper of his voice was relieved, and he fell back onto his sweat-damp blanket. He seemed to relax a little after he recognized the familiar face, though the breaths that passed his lips remained broken and uncontrolled.

"What happened to him?" Suki asked, ignoring Sokka, who continued with his frantic demands for Katara to "fix Sparky."

"Fever terrors, I think," she said sullenly, digging around in one of his bags for a washcloth, or at least something close to one. At the confused looks from both Suki and Aang, she explained. "They're really bad nightmares that you can get when you have a dangerously high fever. I've never seen it before, but I've heard of it." While she was talking, water-swathed hands moved deftly over the prince's feverish skin.

"How long will it last? Will he be okay? What can we do?" Questions bombarded the water bender in a rush of voices that seemed to blur together.

"_Quiet!" _Katara hissed. Aang and Suki obediently closed their mouths, but a quick water-whip to the back of Sokka's head was necessary to silence him. Once everyone was focused on her, she spoke in simple, curt sentences. "I'm going to do everything I can for him. Leave, all of you. _He _needs to rest and _I _need to concentrate. We can't do either with a pack of chattering hog-monkeys in a single tent."

Surprised by her frighteningly calm claims, Suki reluctantly stood and the boys followed suit. Zuko was at least lying still, exhausted after the stir his nightmare had caused, but the worried faces did not relax. The three teenagers followed Katara's orders and backed out of the tent uneasily, but the Runaway stayed as solidly as the element she bent.

"Toph," Katara urged, but the younger girl shook her head. In the dim light of the single lantern, the water bender could see a single tear roll down pale skin from unseeing eyes.

"He's my big brother," Toph insisted, and Katara's brow creased in confusion. "I won't leave my big brother." Her voice seemed so tiny, and her usual ambivalent casualness was discarded, the calloused layers of the girl peeled away until all that was left was a fragile little girl concerned for her family.

"Toph," Katara sighed again, but Zuko's hushed voice cut her off.

"It's okay, kiddo," he whispered, reaching toward the earth bender. Even Katara could tell that he struggled to get the words out so calmly. "I've got the best healer in the world to take care of me. I'll be fine."

Toph mulled over her choices-or maybe she was reading his heartbeat-before she eventually squeaked out, "Promise?"

"Promise."

"You know what'll happen if you're lying, Sparky."

"Of course I do, Bandit. Now go find the others."

Wiping the single tear from her face, Toph hesitantly agreed. "Take care of him, Katara," she begged softly.

"Don't worry, I will."

Katara felt like an intruder during their sibling-like exchange. From the very beginning, Toph was quite attached to Zuko. Maybe it was because he was the only one who could match her sarcastic remarks with comebacks of his own, or because he could withstand her mock punches and frequent practical jokes. Katara didn't notice how close they had really gotten, though, and she noticed that Toph willingly listened to his stern orders. She mentioned it to her patient.

After some unintelligible grumbling, Zuko finally replied, "She's my baby sister-the one who doesn't want to kill me. She listens to her brother."

Katara was silent after that, continuing her healing. The flames that ran across his arms were extinguished and he settled down from the frenzy that the nightmare had put him in. Once she could do no more, Katara stood and shuffled toward the opening in the tent.

"Where are you going?" Zuko asked, suddenly frantic again.

A quizzical look passed over the girl's face. "I'm going back to my tent…?" Where else would she be going?

"No, please. Stay," he pleaded. "Azula."

"Azula won't find us here," she assured, titling her head slightly.

"I-I-I…" Somewhere in the recesses of his mind-the rational part of his mind-he knew that the water bender was right; there was no chance Azula could find them and therefore he had nothing to counter her with. "Just…please."

Katara drew a long, tired breath, then met the terrified eyes of the young man before her. "Alright," she finally conceded. "Give me a couple minutes." With that, she left, and as she left, Zuko sat up. She wasn't coming back. He just knew it. Why would she? She wasn't going to-

"You came back?" he asked incredulously as she stepped through the tent flaps, pillow in hand, several minutes later.

"You asked me to. So here I am." She tossed her pillow toward him and knelt by his side. He didn't look anything like Prince Zuko, heir to the throne and future ruler of the Fire Nation. He just looked like…a normal teenage boy who had a nightmare. Katara felt a deep pang of sympathy for him, since she knew he hated showing any sign of weakness.

"Everything's fine," she murmured, taking a risk by curling her arms around him. To her surprise, he leaned into her, his breath on her shoulder and her cheek on the matted mess of his raven-black hair. "Go back to sleep," she coaxed and untangled herself from him. Uneasily, he lay down once more and Katara followed suit, her back facing the far wall of the tent so her body was perpendicular to his. Her legs curled and her body formed a protective arch above his head.

After long, uncomfortable moments of silence and stillness, the Water Tribe girl found herself running her tired fingers though his hair, just like her mother used to do when a bad dream disrupted her sleep.

"Azula killed you in my dream," Zuko revealed eventually, his eyes closed as Katara continued combing though his hair. "She killed you and my mother and Uncle and everyone else I love." His voice quieted as she stopped moving altogether. "She's crazy. She wants me dead."

Katara wiggled closer to him and pressed a light kiss to his forehead; the thin film of sweat that glazed his skin left an odd, briny taste on her tongue. "She can't take us all down. We're strong together." Her kiss drifted to the corner of his mouth.

"We're a family," the prince agreed breathlessly. "Non-lethal siblings," he muttered, and she could tell that he was flat-out exhausted. "Well, 'cept for you."

"What am I?" she questioned quietly.

"You're-you're more like my wife." As tired as she was, Katara's eyes widened. "We fight a lot. And you make me want you in ways I shouldn't."

"Well, then," she said thoughtfully, settling her weight on her elbow as she leaned over him. With the lightest ghost of a touch, she barely brushed his lips with hers. "We'll have to pick this up later when you're feeling better. Don't forget."

"I won't," he yawned. "G'night, Tara."

"Good night, Zuko. Sweet dreams."

~_Fin_~

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**This turned out much, _much _longer than I originally wanted it to be. -.-'**

**I'm not as proud of this as I'd like to be, and it has kind of a rushed and lame ending. Whatever.**

**This one focuses on how Zuko realizes how much he cares for his new family (especially Katara ^-^). I love the idea of Zuko and Toph being like brother and sister. SPEAKING OF WHICH, that's where the title comes in to play. You can either take it as Azula's sisterly love (or lack there of) or Toph's love for her "big brother."**

**Rewiew, please?**  
**Tchao, Zutarians.**  
**-Erika-**  
**xoxo**


	2. Different Princess, Different Rules

**Zutara Week. Day Two. Change.**

**I own nothing! Zuko, Katara, Iroh, any anything else recognizable belong to Mike/Bryan/Nickelodeon/Viacom!**

**Zutara Week 2010 is, of course, run by the lovely GreenifyME, as well as AnimantX, Irrel, and Trishna87 on deviantART. n_n**

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Different Princess, Different Rules

Clouds swirled dully in a dreary, drab, and utterly depressing shade of gray. Humidity hung heavily in the air, portending the monsoon season in the Fire Nation. It was nasty and sticky and dark out: all the more reason to say inside and sleep in.

These were Katara's thoughts as she stay curled up under the sheets of her new bed, burying her head farther into the plush pillow. Thus, when Fire Lord Zuko moved lazily from her side and began stripping himself of his sleepwear, she protested grumpily.

"Mmm, come back," she muttered, turning over with what seemed to be a great deal of effort. "It's too early."

Zuko glanced over at her with mild amusement as he tied the strings of his loose red pants in a careless bow at his hips. Her eyes were mere slits of sapphire against the bronze of her skin, watching his every move. "It's nearly eleven," he argued placidly.

"Yeah, it's too early," she repeated.

He chuckled lightly under his breath. "Sorry," he apologized flippantly, "but I have a meeting with the Director of Transportation and the Information Technology Specialist in half an hour."

"You mean a couple of stuffy old guys?"

He laughed again, louder this time, and crouched next to the bed with his shirt in his hand. "Pretty much. You can't say stuff like that when-"

"I know, I know," she scoffed. Her nose scrunched prissily, she recited in an unnatural, nasally voice, "It is disrespectful and impolite to refer to the elderly administers in such a demeaning manner. I am to address them as 'sir' or by their official title, and I am not permitted to call them stuffy old people within their presence."

"You catch on quickly," he murmured appraisingly, creeping closer and closer to her slightly parted lips.

"What else did you expect?" she retorted, impatiently leaning in and kissing him roughly. He let the question drop between their lips, capturing her words in his mouth.

"I really have to go, Tara," he mumbled, pushing her back onto the bed and leaving her with one last, chaste kiss. Katara just pouted, sitting up in the tangle of blankets and attempting to comb through her hair with her fingers.

Zuko tugged his shirt over his head and sighed when he shrugged the heavy, traditional robes over it. The waterbender leaned far over the deep red blankets and pillows to reach the small crown on the table next to Zuko's side of the bed and stood up to pin it through his hair.

Just as he was about to open the door to head to the throne room for his meeting, a knock sounded on the other side. Zuko swung it open with just a hint of annoyance. "Oh, Lord Zuko. Good afternoon, my Lord," the man said, bowing for the leader of the nation.

"Chef Sayo," Zuko responded curtly, putting on his authorative voice. "What do we owe this visit to?" He adjusted the cuffs on his sleeves like he had seen his uncle do when he was trying to get the _I'm-in-charge-here_ point across.

"My Lord, the kitchen staff and I would be honored to serve the Princess Katara her first morning meal in the palace, if she desires."

Zuko nodded gratefully and glanced over at his princess. "Bring her anything she wants."

"Of course, my Lord. I would never think otherwise."

"Good. Now I really must go." Just before heading out the door, he stopped short and turned around. "Can you at least _try _to stay out of trouble, Katara?"

She waved him on, smiling angelically. "I can't make any promises! Have fun! Love you!" Despite rolling his eyes, Zuko smiled and called back, "Love you too."

The chef watched warily as the young Fire Lord turned a corner, heading out of sight. He took a step further into the Lord's room and bowed deeply. "My sincerest greetings, Princess Katara."

Said princess swung her legs over the side of her bed. "Rule number one," she started, noticing how the blood drained from his face and left his visage an unhealthy white. "You only have to bow when Zuko is around. He's picky about formalities. I'm not." The color-thankfully-returned to Chef Sayo's face, his shoulders relaxing. "Rule number two. My name is Katara. Only call me princess when-"

"-Lord Zuko is near?" Sayo finished for her.

Katara smiled brightly. "Correct. I might make more rules later. But that's it for now."

"As you wish. Now, may I interest you in a late breakfast? Blueberry blintzes, perhaps, or maybe a bacon and cheese frittata? Chef Lo Chen makes lovely waffles with strawberry Pinot Noir spread."

The waterbender placed a hand on her stomach appreciatively. "That does sound delicious, but I'd just like some fresh fruit. I'm still quite full from last night's feast. There was so much food!" She laughed lightly. "Even _Sokka _was full to the point where he couldn't eat any more! And that's not easily accomplished, you know."

The chef grinned. "Fresh fruit it is then. Anything else?"

A moment of silence followed, with Katara mulling over her endless possibilities for breakfast. "Just a cup of jasmine tea, please."

"Right away, Katara."

"Don't worry about it. Take your time."

"Um." The cook stopped. _Taking one's time _while serving the royal family-even the royal family to be-was virtually unheard of. "Well, uh, we'll try, I suppose."

"Thank you," the princess said, nodding in appreciation.

"You're welcome." With that and a curt bow that was merely out of habit, he left for the kitchen, leaving Katara alone in the ridiculously large room.

With Zuko gone for a few hours, she had no idea what to do, other than wait for her meal. She wandered over to armoire and shuffled through the rainbow of dresses-fancy ones on the left, casual ones on the right. Her fingers landed on a purple number and remembered how she had bickered with the seamstress, putting up a decent argument on how she wanted clothes in colors other than red and blue.

_"Definitely no green-" _

_"But that's the symbolic color for earthbending, in honor of Master Toph." _

_"Then, no orange-" _

_"That's the color used to represent the Air Nomads and current Avatar." _

_"Hmph. Fine. Then no purple-"_

"_Yes, for the harmony of fire and water."_

The seamstress quickly gave up on their banter with an exaggerated sigh of aggravation and just made dresses in every color of the rainbow, much to Katara's pleasure. That was several weeks ago, after she had accepted Zuko's proposal but before she was ready to move to the palace as the princess and the eventual Fire Lady.

"Princess Katara?" a servant girl, probably a year or two older than the waterbender, asked from the open doorway.

"Come in!" she called, yanking the light, rich violet dress off its hanger and draping it over her arm. The maid stepped in hesitantly, carrying a large wooden bowl full of grapes. Seven female servants followed her in, each approximately the same age and each bearing a bowl of different fruits.

"Good afternoon, Princess," they all chorused, nodding in respect.

Katara walked past the first three girls to the fourth one where she spotted gleaming red spheres of fruit, freshly picked. "Mmm, cherries!" She took a small handful of the cherries from the bowl and popped one of them into her mouth, gazing at all the different fruits that they chefs had sent. Small green apples and oranges in one bowl, bananas and kiwis in another, plums and fuzzy peaches in yet a different bowl. She didn't even recognize some of the fruits that the maids had brought.

As she bit down on her second cherry, an unpleasant crunch resounded from inside her mouth, and she brought her fingers to her lips. "Ew. Cherry pit," she muttered, and a collective gasp echoed her words.

"I'm so sorry, Princess. I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" the girl holding the bowl of cherries pleaded, her eyes watering slightly.

Katara's brow furrowed as she munched on another cherry. "Forgive you? For what? It's a cherry pit."

Nervous eyes glanced at each other. "Former Princess Azula had banished one of her maids because she found a pit in her cherry, Princess," the first girl explained quietly.

"Banished for a cherry pit!" Katara exclaimed. "That's-that's ridiculous! There are going to be some major changes around her," she declared, earning deathly relieved sighs and hopeful murmurs from her fruit bearers.

...

No more than an hour later, with the rain howling outside, there were nine young women-one princess and eight servants-sitting inside of a small ice castle right in the center of the Royal Hair Combing Room. Katara had explained the same two rules that she had given to Chef Sayo, and they obliged more than willingly.

Katara had asked them to stay as she ate, and told them to help themselves; they happily took a piece of fruit, a couple of them opting for those odd star-shaped fruits and the ones that looked like they had serpent skin on the outside. She had told them that fruit was rare down in the South Pole and before finding the Avatar, she had really only eaten sea prunes and ocean kumquats. This statement, of course, brought on the unified murmurs of "I've never been outside of the Fire Nation" or "I've never seen snow before."

"We're going to change that," Katara announced then, getting up and leading blindly through the door (she had to stop after a few steps and ask where there was a large, open room and promptly turned around when the servants collectively pointed in the opposite direction that she was going).

The waterbending Fire Princess deemed the Hair Combing Room perfect and opened the windows, rain dripping in violently. Then before any of the girls had time to assess what was going on, a tall, detailed ice castle was constructed right in front of their eyes with snow banks on either side.

"Snow," Katara said happily, leading inside her palace-within-a-palace.

Now they sat in a circle, their backs to one another, combing and braiding each other's hair with brief interruptions to sip at the tea Katara had requested.

"_Is Fire Lord Zuko a good kisser?"_

"_How did he propose?"_

"_What will your wedding dress look like?"_

Typical gossip bounced around the cold walls, peals of laughter following after Katara divulged an answer or gave a bit of information she probably shouldn't have mentioned.

Eventually, one of the more elderly servants found the princess in the Hair Combing Room and nearly fainted at the sight of the ice sculpture that filled nearly the entire room.

Lord Zuko hurried to see what the fuss was about, his jaw dropping almost comically. He blinked slowly, taking in the snow and ice in the middle of the Fire Nation palace. Shaking his head, he looked up to see the spires and intricate, useless towers at the top.

He sighed, holding in a laugh, and ducked under the arch into the small ice castle.

Chatter immediately stopped then, all movement coming to an abrupt halt. His golden eyes were directed straight at his princess. "I thought I told you to stay out of trouble," he said, grinning.

"Yes," she agreed. "And _I_ said I couldn't make any promises."

_~Fin~_

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**And…..I fail. xD I've had this idea in my head for the longest time now, but I haven't gotten around to writing it. And I have NO CLUE where this idea came from.**

**Review, please?  
Tchao, Zutarians.  
-Erika-  
xoxo**


	3. With The Moon Comes Power

**Zutara Week. Day Three. Pain.**

**Set in the Southern Raider's episode, riiiiiiiight before Katara goes all crazy-waterbender on Zuko about how he should reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King or bring her mother back.**

**I own nothing! Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Aang, and anything else recognizable belong to Mike/Bryan/Nickelodeon/Viacom!**

**Zutara Week 2010 is, of course, run by the lovely GreenifyME, as well as AnimantX, Irrel, and Trishna87 on deviantART. n_n**

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With the Moon Comes Power

"Hear, hear!" the ragtag group of warriors chorused, raising their cups in a toast to the fire prince. The glowing firelight illuminated the content grin from Aang as he elbowed the bender at his side and brightened Toph's unseeing eyes when she punched Zuko's arm.

"I'm touched. I don't deserve this," Zuko murmured gratefully.

"Yeah, no kidding," Katara snapped, partaking in the conversation for the first time. Her glare was flooded with a coldness that was equivalent to the ice she bent. Troubled stares followed her retreating form that drifted toward the side of the cliff.

"What's with her?" Sokka asked, not really caring.

Dignified and determined, Zuko stood. "I wish I knew," he replied before taking off after the distressed bender. He had proven himself worthy to the Blind Bandit, the Kyoshi Warrior, the Water Tribe idiot, and the Avatar. It was the cryptic carapace of the water maid that he couldn't seem to make a dent in, let alone break down.

"What's with him?" The boy's question was met with a round of ambivalent shrugs before the lively chatter from minutes earlier began again.

Katara heard the soft shuffle of footsteps approach her; she knew which member of the group is was in an instant. His stride sounded different than everyone else's. Toph's was boisterous, Aang's was little more than a whisper among the grass or gravel, Suki's possessed the grace of a dancer, and Sokka's was clumsy. His footsteps were enemy footsteps, mistrustful and heavy and arrogant.

"Go away," she demanded coolly, never taking her eyes off of the craters and mountains on the moon or the ephemeral ring that glowed around it.

"This isn't fair!" Zuko tried to reason with her, earning a harsh glare over the waterbender's shoulder.

"I said, go _away_," she repeated.

"No." The short syllable was solid, sturdy. "_Why _are you so _mad _at me? Was it something I did?" A short pause and no answer, then: "Was it something I _didn't _do?" She didn't answer his questions and simply tuned him out as he continued to ramble on about how everyone else trusted him now and she was the only one who didn't.

"You know," Katara interrupted his lengthy tirade with casual cruelness, "I can kill you, right now, without even getting up." Her storm-blue eyes cast their gaze back up to the tiny white pinpoints in the sky and their mistress. "A lot has changed since the North Pole. The moon can do things you never even imagined."

It infuriated Zuko to have her disregard him in the way she was doing, not even bothering to look at him while she berated him. Crossing his arms in his usual stubborn manner, he challenged her. "Do it." This time, she spun around, her eyes wide and her lips drawn in an uncomprehending scowl. "Just try to kill me."

A sarcastic laugh rumbled through her throat. "_Try_?" she echoed, like it was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. "I _can _and I _will_."

He waited while she closed her eyes peacefully; every breath he drew aided her in her focus. She could see his body in its entirety despite their distant proximity. She could see every sinewy muscle under his skin flex and contract as he shifted impatiently. She could nearly _feel _his blood ebbing and flowing around his body, through the veins and arteries, pulsing at every paced beat of his heart.

When the angry blue of her eyes opened once more, she found a smirk playing at the corner of her unkind mouth. At this uncharacteristically smug grin, Zuko grew uneasy, and, to his horror, he found that his legs wouldn't move even a fraction of an inch, nor could he raise his arms. He let out a low, raw gasp as the reality became apparent.

Of course, he mused grimly, her plan was to watch him suffer. Watch him as she took complete control.

"See, I don't just _rise _with the moon," she explained leisurely. "I gain this wicked, terrifying, _exhilarating _power." With the simple wave of her fingers, he was on all fours. His chest was heaving with strangled, heavy breaths, as though he had just completed one of his lengthy training sessions. She crossed her legs on the boulder she was perched on, and as she did so, the incapacitated prince rose sharply to his feet again.

Katara saw the fear in his eyes, an emotion that did its best to not be seen often, while she slowly squeezed her fingers into a fist. She was cutting off his circulation in precise places: a slightly harder squeeze and Zuko was nearly choking. She would have closed her fist all the way and snapped his lifeline then and there, but the sky-clear film of tears disrupted her sight.

The waterbender dropped her hand and released her captive from her deadly hold. Zuko, over taken by utter shock and horror, staggered backwards before tripping and landing on his back. With precise steps, Katara shuffled toward him in tears and knelt by him.

"Right here," she whispered shakily, touching a finger to his neck where the thick blue vein was clearly visible beneath his ghostly pale skin. "All I have to do is stop the blood from flowing here and you'll die in a matter of seconds." Her hand dropped then, and she glared at her fingertips. "I could kill you right now," Katara sighed painfully, "but I won't. Since Aang needs you, the world needs you. And this war must end."

Her back turned, Katara stumbled toward her tent, leaving Zuko behind with her beloved moon above and cherished ocean below.

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**I think I like this one the most out of my Zutara Week prompts. ;D**

**Special thanks to my lovely beta reader, spockjasperzukowriting! 3**

**Review, please?**  
**Tchao, Zutarians.**  
**-Erika-**  
**xoxo**


	4. An Addition To The Palace

**Zutara Week. Day Four. Date.**

**I own nothing! Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Aang, Iroh, Momo, Appa, Kya, Lu Ten, Hakoda, messenger hawks, turtle-ducks, and anything else recognizable belong to Mike/Bryan/Nickelodeon/Viacom!**

**Zutara Week 2010 is, of course, run by the lovely GreenifyME, as well as AnimantX, Irrel, and Trishna87 on deviantART. n_n**

* * *

An Addition to the Palace

"Congratulations, my Lord," one of the many palace servants said to Fire Lord Zuko, inclining his head in warranted respect. The lord nodded slightly, confused, but brushed it off with a curt word of thanks. Zuko continued though the palace, alone, heading to his mother's beloved turtle-duck pond.

On his way, he was stopped four more times by various maids and butlers that granted him good luck and best wishes. He responded politely each time, but, truth be told, he didn't have the slightest inkling as to why he was being congratulated. The fifth time a servant stopped him and gave his blessings, Zuko lost his patience and questioned him.

"I must be missing something important, because I don't have the slightest idea why every single person I've seen has told me _congratulations _or _good luck_. Can you tell me what the hell is going on?"

The servant's forehead creased inquisitively. "Lady Katara has not told you? She just learned that she is bearing a child, sire. An heir to the throne."

"She _what_?" Zuko exclaimed, his good eye widening at the news. Frustration coursed through him then; apparently he was the last person to be informed of his wife's pregnancy.

The servant shifted on his feet. "She is carrying-"

"I heard what you said the first time," the Fire Lord snapped, exasperated. "Where is she?"

"I last saw her in the gardens, my Lord."

Without another word, Zuko pushed his way past the servant and hurried toward the gardens. His head was light as he processed the information: in a little less that a year's time, he and Katara would have a fragile little bundle of life who would eventually rule the nation in his place. Just the idea shot the most unnerving combination of electric emotions-both pleasant and alarming-through his veins.

Before he could turn down the hall that led out to the gardens, Katara rounded the same corner and abruptly halted just in time to avoids crashing face-first into Zuko. A look of profound confusion crossed bother their faces at once, then immediately expanded into a plethora of different sentiments.

"Zuko! You'll never guess-"

"I already know."

"You…what?"

"_Everyone _already knows, and I guess I was the last one to find out." His voice was harder than he expected it to be, and he ducked his head in embarrassment. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked in a gentler murmur.

"It's your own fault, really. I've been looking for you all morning." Katara grinned as she spoke, discreetly slipping her arms around him and clasping her manicured hands at the small of his back. "To make it official, I'm pregnant. Congratulations."

She chuckled as he kissed her face: her forehead first, then her nose and cheeks, followed by his mouth tracing her jaw and finally finding her lips. "That baby's due date will be sometime during autumn's middle," she informed him between soft kisses.

Zuko paused briefly, counting back the months silently. It was early spring. Early spring to mid-autumn only spanned six months. "You've known for three months?"

She shrugged innocently. "I wanted to make sure everything was okay before we got too excited." Zuko looked thoughtful but said nothing. "Look, Zuzu, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I thought you of all people-"

"I thought you looked a little pudgy lately," he interrupted playfully.

"Ah!" Katara exclaimed, poking him roughly in the ribs. "You must have a death a death wish or something," she laughed while once more wrapping her arms around his middle.

"Something like that," he agreed, then his face sobered. "The…the baby needs a name."

"Well, eventually, yes. But we've got a while to work that out."

Zuko shook his head and grinned at her confused face, complete with furrowed brow and pursed lips. "I've had a lot of time to think about it," he explained. "Lu Ten for a boy…Kya for a girl."

Katara's eyes watered as he spoke her mother's name and silently cursed the pregnancy hormones. "Sounds…perfect."

...

One week and at least two dozen messenger hawks later, the old gang was gathered together again for a celebratory feast. Sokka and Suki arrived with their four children-six year old twin girls Lúa and Yume; four year old Kota, named after his grandfather; and little Mori, the latest addition to the family-but definitely not the last, Sokka assured-who was almost three.

Toph and Aang came as well, bringing no additional family members other than Appa and Momo. However, from the second the blind earth bender walked into the palace, her good-humored, sarcastic remarks never ceased to leave her mouth.

"_Sugar Queen's knocked up! Nice going, Sparky!" _

"_I'm gonna be the best aunt in the world and make sure this kid has the most annoying toys known to man. You're welcome." _

"_I bet 25 gold pieces that Mini-Sparky is gonna be a girl."_

Iroh, always a lover of a good gamble, matched her wager and bet for a boy.

Five and a half months later, Toph had a few extra handfuls of gold coins in her pockets as she passed a wailing, squirming Princess Kya back to her mother and bet Iroh when Mini-Sparky Number Two was going to be born.

_~Fin~_

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**I hope this is more original than all the _first date _or _group date _pictures and stories that I'm expecting for this prompt. I went with a different approach: due date.**

**Although, I did decide to go along with the overused notion that Sokka and Suki have a lot of kids. Lúa is Galician for _moon_, Yume is Japanese for _dreams_, Kota means _allies _in a Native American language, and Mori is Japanese for _forest_. Don't kill me if I get these wrong-I just used Google. xD**

**Review, please?**  
**Tchao, Zutarians.**  
**-Erika-**  
**xoxo**


	5. Out Of Key

**Zutara Week. Day Five. Harmony.**

**I own nothing! Zuko, Katara, Suki, Sokka, Toph, Aang, Appa, Momo, and everything else recognizable belong to Mike/Bryan/Nickelodeon/Viacom!**

**Zutara Week 2010 is, of course, run by the lovely GreenifyME, as well as AnimantX, Irrel, and Trishna87 on deviantART. n_n**

* * *

Out Of Key

_Why_, Katara wanted to know. Why did he have to screw up everything she had worked so hard to perfect, all order in camp, the group's entire schedule?

She always had a planned outline of her day that she followed strictly. Roll up her sleeping bag, wash her face, brush her hair, slip her dress over her bindings, and go out to start breakfast. Clean the dishes after the morning meal and then gather laundry so everyone could have clean clothes. Lunch was a free-for-all: if you were _that _hungry, get up and make your own food.

Training sessions were always next, when the sun was almost exactly overhead. First she would spar with Toph, then with Aang, then with Zuko. She alternated days training in hand-to-hand combat with Suki, learning how to knock out a grown man in a single punch, between days where Sokka would teach her how to properly hold a dagger or a sword. If it was Thursday, her training would be abandoned and replaced with a trip to the nearest market or out into the wild to forage for food.

She'd allow herself a break after that, going for a relaxing swim or taking a quick nap before she went to start dinner. The evening meals were always a group effort. Toph and Aang attended to Appa and Momo, Suki and Sokka unloaded dishware, and Zuko brewed whichever kind of tea that they could find that week. Katara was the ringleader, assuming the most important role-preparing the actual dinner-and making sure that everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing.

They'd eat dinner and then scatter, off with their own business to see to. She would take two trips to the nearest fountain or lake or river-it all depended on where they were-wielding all the dishes by faint moonlight where she would wash them thoroughly and let them air dry. In the time it took for the dishes to dry, she would bathe quickly, scrubbing the dirt and sweat from her skin. The bowls and cups would be packed away neatly and then, with no more chores left for the night, she would turn into her sleeping bag until the sun pried at her eyelids and the entire process unfalteringly started over again.

Which, of course, what why Katara was severely irritated when Zuko decided to change her day around.

"Are you ready to get your butt kicked?" she asked good-naturedly, cracking her neck a few minutes after her training session with Aang.

"Later," Zuko said dismissively, walking away casually and leaving Katara shocked and more than annoyed. Since it was a Monday and it was her day to train with Sokka, she sought out Suki to make up for the practice that she obviously wasn't going to get with Zuko.

Afterwards, when stomachs were comfortably filled with stew and day-old bread, Katara continued her nightly routine, carrying and armload of bowls down to the lake's edge and then an armload of cups during her next trip.

She was reaching up to tie her hair back when the first of several spheres of fire landed dangerously close to her. Directly in her central line of vision, she could see Zuko through the trees, his arms and legs locked in solid, angular bending stances.

"What are you doing?" she shouted at him, drawing up water to shield herself from the fire he sent toward her.

"Fight me," he responded simply, sauntering closer.

"What?" she exclaimed. "No! We were supposed to do that earlier! And now I have the dishes to wash. So unless you want to help, go away."

"Fight me," he said again. "You have a huge advantage with the moon. I want to practice when you have the upper hand.

Katara stood up then, crossing her arms over her chest, her lips drawn impatiently and her eyes not amused. "Let me get this straight. You messed up my _entire _day and now you expect me to _obey _you like some gopher-dog? Something doesn't seem quite right to me," she ended sarcastically.

"Please," Zuko tried again. "Just do it."

"I might consider it, if and when you learn to do things the way the rest of us do. You're the only one who refuses to go along with our schedule.

Zuko moved even closer still, keeping his arms stiff and defensive. "Well, I can tell you right now that that's not gonna happen," he snorted. "You don't get harmony is everyone sings in the same note. Sing out of key for once."

The scowl on her face softened a bit. "Help me first and then I'll see what I can do."

"Deal," he complied without a moment of hesitation. It was the closest thing to an agreement he had gotten all day and he wasn't going to risk losing it. Soon, there were two precise rows of dishware laid out on the shore, and Zuko managed to convince the Ice Queen to step out of rhythm and create a new melody of fire and water.

_~Fin~_

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**Yeah, I don't know what possessed me to make Katara have OCD. xD Lol. For this purpose, I thought it was acceptable. Though it does kinda remind me of myself…if there's a late start at school or a fire drill (or something similar) and the day is different than how it normally is, I'm usually in a worse mood than I was before. Usually.**

**Gosh, this one's a lot shorter than the rest of them. -_-' Oh well.**

**Review, please?**  
**Tchao, Zutarians.**  
**-Erika-**  
**xoxo**


	6. Darling, It's Better

**Zutara Week. Day Six. Alternate Universe.**

**I own nothing! Zuko, Katara, Iroh, and everything else recognizable belong to Mike/Bryan/Nickelodeon/Viacom! The full title is from _The Little Mermaid_. :)**

**Zutara Week 2010 is, of course, run by the lovely GreenifyME, as well as AnimantX, Irrel, and Trishna87 on deviantART. n_n**

* * *

Darling, It's Better Down Where It's Wetter

Waves lapped placidly against the metal hull of the ship, singing a quite afternoon hymn out at sea. The ship was due east, toward the massive Earth Kingdom. Iroh had explained that he had unattended business in Ba Sing Se and claimed that he needed assistants. Seeing as Fire Lord Zuko and Water Princess Katara were the only ones who were at the Fire Nation capitol at the time, they were automatically volunteered for the roles of assistants.

Now, they were in the middle of the ocean, bobbing gently in the waves, while General Iroh was standing on the starboard side of the ship, donning an extremely large sun hat and holding a fishing pole.

Whatever business he had in Ba Sing Se was clearly not too important, seeing as Iroh had stopped the ship in order to go fishing. He didn't need to go fishing, Zuko argued: that's what the servants are for. As always, though, Iroh disputed his nephew with some ridiculous quotes of wisdom and skewed logic.

So now, Zuko was at the ship's bow looking at the monotony of waves, thoroughly bored and slightly annoyed. Katara was nowhere to be seen-

"Cannon ball!" she shouted, standing on top of the ship's control room. He looked up just in time to see her sail from the roof, over the guard railing, and land in the water with a tsunami splash.

She was under the water for an alarmingly long time, and Zuko leaned far over to see if he could spot her underneath the clear blue-green of the ocean. She shot back up to the surface eventually, not gasping for breath in the slightest, and the young Fire Lord let out a relieved sigh.

"Aw, you do care," she laughed.

"Enough to hope my South Pole ambassador didn't drown," he teased, running a hand through his loose hair.

"Oh, cram it," she muttered, sending a wave up to him. "Jump in. There's something I want to show you." He was far from amused as he wiped water from his eyes, scowling down at the sea below.

"I guess I have no choice. I need to get my revenge, now." Zuko grinned as kicked off his shoes, and his shirt soon followed his shoes.

He was sure-footed as he climbed up the railing, swinging his legs over the top and solidly planting his feet on the bottom rung, facing the water. Katara treaded water below, watching him expectantly. She humphed impatiently when he waved from his perch, and then he pushed off the ship's rail and landed smoothly in the water several seconds later.

Katara was right in his face when he surfaced, causing him to flinch when his field of vision was filled with the small oceans of her eyes instead of the open ocean that engulfed them.

"Do you trust me?" she asked as her hand drifted toward him, settling on his forearm and sliding down until her fingers were twined with his.

"I hate it when you say that," he muttered, partly intrigued, mostly apprehensive.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," she decided for him. Suddenly, the arm that wasn't swirling small eddies at the white crest of water was plunged roughly beneath the ocean's surface, and a gaping whirlpool opened up at their feet. They were sucked under by Katara's bending and she only let go of his hand when she couldn't see the sky anymore.

"Are you ok?" she asked wryly, her arms suspended above her head.

"And that'd be why I hate it when you say that," Zuko said instead, and then his brow furrowed in confusion. He looked up and saw the reason the could talk and breathe far underwater. A sturdy bubble had formed around them, separating them from the water with a transparent shield.

"Oh, wow," he breathed when he glanced outside of their bubble.

Everything under the water was revealed to him then, every shimmering fish and slime-covered rock and swaying plant and strange creature that he didn't even know existed. A koi-crab crawled close to them, but the alien forms invading its territory deterred it from coming too close. Schools of striped and dotted fish moved in unison here and there, and some incredibly odd creature stuck it's head-or maybe it was its tail-out of a crevice in a crumbling boulder.

He reached down and took a handful of wet sand dotted with tiny shells, completely awed, before letting the muck ooze through his fingers and plop back on the ocean floor. Like a child eager to examine everything, he next reached for the perimeter of the bubble and for a reason he didn't understand, he was surprised when his hand went right through the surface and into the water.

Pulling his hand back to him, he looked at the waterbender who was just watching him. "It's like…" he trailed off, unable to find appropriate words.

"A different universe down here?" she finished for him. A smile touched her face when he nodded vehemently. "I know," she whispered, looking around fondly at their surroundings. "I love it here."

"I can see why," he agreed. Save for the sounds of the sea creatures, silence followed then. Katara sighed contentedly and looked skyward.

"Sorry to _burst your bubble_," she giggled after a few minutes, and Zuko rolled his eyes at her bad joke, "but my arms are getting tired. We'll come back again, though," she promised. With that, she forced water underneath their liquid shield and they slowly began to drift to the surface. Several arm spans away from the top of the waves, she grinned and glanced at him. "Race you to the top?"

"You're on," he complied smugly, and then water flooded their bubble. It was a mad dash to the top, though it was no real surprise when Katara burst through the surface first. Then, with no warning, she began to swim toward the right side of the ship, signaling for the firebender to follow.

Zuko could see his uncle standing with his fishing pole and ridiculous hat, and immediately grasped her plan. He followed her beneath the water once more and held on to the length of the fishing line, Katara right next to him. The Water Tribe girl laughed underwater as she felt the line go taut as Iroh tugged on it from above.

Aiding the retired general, they kicked forward before bobbing up like buoys. Iroh's eyes widened when the two benders surfaced instead of the giant fish he had been hoping for, nearly dropping his hat over the side of the boat in shock. His old eyes softened then, throwing on a huge grin and laughing deeply.

"What a pleasant surprise," he chuckled. "It seems as though I have caught the Fire Lord and his lovely lady friend. How about you two come up for some tea?"

The two benders in the water looked at each other, amused. "Of course, Uncle!" the called together, laughing and raced toward the ladder that jutted into the water.

Once more, Katara beat the firebender, to none of their surprise, but she still teased him, nonetheless. "Maybe I'll let you win next time."

_~Fin~_

* * *

**This really isn't what the prompt is supposed to be about, but it still works nicely. ;D**

**Review, please?**  
**Tchao, Zutarians.**  
**-Erika-**  
**xoxo**


	7. Seeing Red, Painted Blue

**Zutara Week. Day Seven. Storm.**

**It's the last day of Zutara Week! :( It was so much fun though!**

**I own nothing! Zuko, Katara, Painted Lady, Blue Spirit, and everything else recognizable belong to Mike/Bryan/Nickelodeon/Viacom!**

**Zutara Week 2010 is, of course, run by the lovely GreenifyME, as well as AnimantX, Irrel, and Trishna87 on deviantART. n_n**

* * *

Seeing Red, Painted Blue

"Zuko," the ephemeral figure whispered at the openings of the aforementioned boy's tent. Her gauzy robes fluttered in the light breeze, her red face paint reflecting nearly silver in the full moon's brilliant light. "Zuko," she repeated, then dashed away as swiftly as she could manage.

The confused young man shuffled out of his ragged blankets and into the humid night, rubbing his good eye and stifling a yawn. He stretched and was suddenly on guard, glancing around anxiously for whoever dared sneak into their camp. Zuko spotted the feminine silhouette on the hilltop, standing gracefully with the moon as her backdrop. Even standing perfectly still, she seemed to possess a fluid elegance similar to the gentle push and pull of the ocean's tide.

"What are you waiting for, Blue Spirit?" she called out quietly, raising her voice just enough so he could hear her.

His eyes darted around and he spotted a blue oblong shape resting against the side of his tent. Upon closer inspection, it was the horned mask just like the one he used to wear on his midnight expeditions. His jaw set in a hard line as a look of confusion crept across his face.

"Who are you?" he shouted. He was unnerved that the spirit-like girl knew his past identity.

"Come," she coaxed, stepping backwards.

With a slight growl, Zuko reached down, grabbed the mask, and ducked back inside his tent to quickly dress in the suit of pure black. Fully transformed into the Blue Spirit, he grabbed his Dao swords and slung them over his back. The moonlit lady was still waiting for him.

She already knew he was there, so instead on focusing on stealth and anonymity, Zuko concentrated on his speed. The girl, seemingly satisfied, took off through the trees and led their newly formed game of chase. Her lithe steps took her soundlessly through the forest, feinting through the trees until she reached the nearest town where she clambered up onto the rooftops and performed a sort of ballet on the peaks of the roofs. Zuko tried to catch her, but his effort was in vain and she vanished before he could even understand what happened.

That was the first time the Painted Lady had visited the Blue Spirit. Their rendezvous recurred almost nightly, and Zuko was able to pick out only a few blatantly obviously facts about his mysterious companion.

First, she always seemed to find him, no matter where he was, and never did she make it seem like it was a coincidence that she ran into him. Second, she would not let him get close enough to discover her true identity, even though she knew his alias. Third, she disliked speaking and only called out to him to begin their chase, and fourth, he was utterly fascinated.

The familiar scenario played out for maybe the eleventh or twelfth time one night, and the moonlight lady only had to say his name once before he appeared in full Blue Spirit costume and followed without so much as a moment's hesitation.

After emerging from the thick forest and nearly gliding across the flat, short plain, she scrambled gracefully up the side of one store after she made sure he was still following her. A tiny grin cracked her lips when she saw him not too far behind, one hand gripping his swords, as he always did.

Zuko would follow her soundlessly across the rooftops and then when they got to the last building in town, she'd vanish and he would just stare at the spot she had just been occupying for a moment, confused or amazed, before turning around and heading back to the camp where the other members of Team Avatar still slept. This time, however, she had a different idea.

At the last store on the edge of town, she jumped down from the roof, glancing up at the masked man and nodding encouragingly. He followed suit, his jump lacking her grace but silent and effective, nonetheless. Then he was running again, until the salty brine of the ocean met his nose. The spirit girl had stopped on the ragged line of sand that marked where land ended and water began, letting the languid tide sweep over her bare feet.

The deep violet robe she wore pooled by her elbows and hung loosely over her shoulders, the plentiful material clasped together with a wide, flat seashell and some rope. Her hair, not agreeing with the humidity of the night, curled wildly down her back. The red flourishes on her face were contorted by the sheer cascade of a veil that hung in front of her.

She turned when she heard him approach, her eyes tracing the gleaming blades of his twin swords that were suspended steadfastly in the air. "Stand down, Blue Spirit," the Painted Lady suggested, her voice a sultry murmur.

Zuko tore his gaze from the top of her woven hat-she never looked up enough for him to see her face clearly-to the dagger strapped around her waist. The Painted Lady laughed softly when she realized what he must have been looking at and discarded her weapon onto the stretch of sand in front of him. He lowered his prized swords but didn't return them to their sheath.

"Who are you?" he asked, now that he had the opportunity to speak to her.

"There's a storm coming tonight," she replied instead, swishing the white crest of waves with her feet.

Zuko looked up through his mask at the still sky. "How can you tell?" he demanded. The waves were calm and the air was still; she must be crazy if she thought there was a storm brewing.

"I feel it in my blood, just like the way you can feel the sun's path, firebender." Her low voice was smug, self-assured.

"I'm not-" he countered immediately, stopping short. He had refused his power for so long in Ba Sing Se, and it was just by habit now to deny his bending when someone made the assumption. He had forgotten that she already knew who he was. "I see," he conceded at last.

"Prince Zuko," the mystic woman started, trailing off and never continuing her sentence. Instead, still making sure he couldn't see her face, she stepped over her dagger and stroked the thin wood of his mask. His fingers seized her wrist, overlapping and nearly bruising the delicate skin, then let his hands drop in defeat when he heard an aggravated sigh. Thunder cracked across the dark sky as the clouds began to swirl.

The Painted Lady smiled at the thunder and his compliance, finding the edges of his mask and slowly sliding it up and over his head. Amber eyes were troubled as she brushed the hood of his shirt back as well, tousling his hair. The mask was his security, and without it, he felt vulnerable and exposed.

"Mmm," she murmured in approval, touching her fingertips to the rippled scar that dominated the left side of his face. Her thumb lightly brushed over his lips; his breath teased her fingers. _Just like the catacombs_, the girl thought. _But this time we're friends_.

The familiarity and uncanny déjà vu began to seep into Zuko's mind.

_You have no idea what this war has put me through._

_That's something we have in common._

_This is water from the Spirit Oasis. It has special properties._

"You're…" he breathed, and she stepped back. A droplet of water plopped on his face near his right eye, sliding down his cheek. Another fell, and another, and another. Soon, a steady sheet of rain was falling in a torrent around them.

The Painted Lady removed her hat and for the first time looked up at him. The red swirls on her cheeks blurred to a scarlet river, dripping over her cheeks and collarbone. The crescent moon on her forehead mingled with the swirls in a berry-dyed current, staining her caramel skin.

"Katara?"

"Hey, firebender. Lovely night, isn't it?"

"_You're _the Painted Lady?" he tried in vain to hide his surprise. He blinked as she nodded her head sheepishly, water spattering off of the ends of her hair. "And you knew I was the Blue Spirit?" Katara nodded again, shrugging.

"Are you mad at me?" Katara asked eventually, titling her head guiltily. She shifted on her feet and sank an inch in the soaked sand. Another boom of thunder followed her murmurs.

Zuko thought for a moment, looking her over. "No," he said simply, pawing at his bangs in a poor attempt to stop the water from dripping directly in his eyes.

As the wind whipped the rain around every which way, the icy droplets were drumming a tattoo on the ocean's fidgeting surface. Suddenly, rain wasn't pelting Zuko or Katara any more, and the young prince noticed water dome had formed above their heads, shielding both warriors from the impending rain.

"It was actually kind of…fun," he admitted, wringing water from his shirt. "It's been a while since I played the Blue Spirit."

A brilliant smile overtook Katara's ruby-stained face. Almost as if it were an after thought, she curled her fingers and drew streams of water from both their clothes, swirling it into an obnoxiously fancy design before discarding it outside of her dome.

The convex water shield followed overhead as they slowly and silently made their way back to the camp where the other four members of the gang were sleeping though the storm.

Zuko seemed captivated by his old mask as they walked while Katara had her own thought mulling around her mind. Now that he knew that she was the spirit girl that visited him nearly every night, would their games of chase end? She could see their camp now, and it was all too possible that her nights of being the river spirit were going to end in a matter of minutes.

Almost as if Katara had spoken aloud, Zuko's voice sliced the chilled, damp night as they reached their tents. "Same time tomorrow night, Painted Lady?"

A look of pure delight followed her shocked expression. "Of course. See you then, Blue Spirit."

_~Fin~_

* * *

**FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.**

**This was originally my idea for Change, but Storm was being a pain in the ass, so I decided to use it for Storm and think of another fic for Change. Whatever.**

**_"'I feel it in my blood, just like the way you can feel the sun's path, firebender.' Her low voice was smug, self-assured."_ After this line, I don't really like the rest of it. **

**Review, please?**  
**Tchao, Zutarians.**  
**-Erika-**  
**xoxo**


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